Night Out!

MiMi came and scooped up the kids yesterday at 4pm! Mike and I had a wonderful night out on the town thanks to gift cards from his students from Teacher Appreciation Week! A yummy dinner and a movie almost completely paid for! What a blessing! Then we had a leisurely morning and then headed over to a friend's wedding at 11:30....

It was such a nice wedding (I love weddings!) and I even got to bring home the centerpiece from our table...it is so pretty! It was such a nice 24 hrs with Mike and other adults I used to work with....lots of time to relax and chat! And we knew our kids were having a blast at MiMi and PaPas!

The kids had lots of fun around their house and then today they went to the Botanical Gardens!

Carter hanging out near their bamboo...

We are so grateful for the good times our kids have had and will have with their grandparents!

What a relaxing 24 hrs for our holiday....thanks MiMi and PaPa for playing so hard with our little ones and making lots of sweet memories!

Stay-cation 2010

Daddy's county didn't have school on Friday...YAY for a 4 day weekend! We headed to the fountains to play!

Carter went right in checking things out and getting soaking wet...

This is M at the same age when we went last time...I hadn't gone back yet with the 2 of them bc it was a bit daunting to me, but Carter has been getting better at listening and Mike was going too so we thought it would be the perfect FREE thing to do...and it was!

Check out how Carter is all up in the mix and M is on the outskirts thinking things over...

But it didn't take her long to join in on the fun!

I love this next pic...M looks like she might burst with JOY! :)
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And our Moose!

Daddy watching his little boy while M and I sit on the bench and watch...

We enjoyed a nice little picnic lunch halfway through our play...

Me and my girl!

And me and my Carter Buggins...

Here is some of the fun....

Signs of Summer...

We broke out the sprinkler this week for the first time this season....Love to hear the sound it makes....ahhhhh summer!

And MiMi came over with Begonias for our flower boxes...

Tried to distract Carter with a cup of soil in the flower border....it didn't last but 2 secs...MiMi and Mal planting away!

And Carter tries his hand at it too...it was a bit comical when they were both trying to help at the same time...Thanks for the plants MiMi! We love them and will enjoy them as we spend lots of time on our deck this summer! :)

21 months

Hard to believe that when Mallory was 21 months we brought home Carter (click here for a trip down memory lane...) and now he is 21 months!!!! My baby boy!!!!

He is all about playing with little animals and making them make their animal sounds and chat with one another...He still loves playing ball and he is very interested in trucks...the other day he enjoyed watching the recycling truck as it made it's way collecting bins on our street and he was so upset when the truck turned to go up the next street...he actually shed a single tear over it...

He enjoys looking at family photos and pointing to all the people he loves...he was all about Pepere the other day... :)


Here he is pointing and chatting.... :)

3 and a Half!

Our lady long legs turned 3 and a half on the 19th! Time is flying...and she only has 1 more day of school before the summer...I can't believe it...The above pic is when we were waiting in the drop off line for school this week...I know she is going to be sad to say goodbye to her teachers on Tues...it has been a great yr...great for her and great for Carter and I to have special alone time as well!

She loves her "extra time" when Carter goes down for nap...it's only about 30 mins, but she tries to squeeze in as many activities as possible each day...

Still a pensive girl...she was such a serious baby...often called "the judge"...

She likes sitting on the fam Morrocan beanbag from Hutch when watching TV...and she is currently really into The Jungle Book (movie and book-- we read the book at least twice a day!)...that is what she is watching in the above pic...

We then turned it off and played school/store for the rest of her time...like I said...she likes to squeeze as much as she can into her extra time! I love having special time with my little girl! :)

Our Weekend...

We had a very restful weekend! We had nothing planned until Sunday and just enjoyed hanging around the house! Church was wonderful on Sunday...

Then we came home to our "3rd cat"...the kids love our neighbor's fiance's dog...."a cat" in Mike's opinion...we are seeing more of her these days and the kids are loving it! She is such a sweetie!

Then of course it's time to play in one of the 2 cars...See M in the background? We spend lots of time in there pretending to drive all over....lately the destination has been the Strawberry Patch... :)

And lastly...our weekend was about saying goodbye to these guys...I bawled like a baby...and I'm still confused, but I love the show and all the conversations I've had over the yrs about it...what will we do without it!?!?!!?

Strawberries!!!

As soon as we got to "the patch" M wanted to get in the corn pit! So off we went! Carter didn't know what to think at first, but then he got into doing "corn confetti" as seen below...

Then we jumped on the hayride...The kids look a bit concerned...the hay was a little scratchy at first...

The kids went right to work picking and eating out in the field...

Yummmmmm....he was eating like Cookie Monster except with berries...

Ahhhhhh Springtime! (it felt more like summer though!)

Sharing with the little guy...

What a "berry" fun way to spend our Friday...Can't wait to share the rest of our strawberries with Daddy when he gets home! :)

Hand Plates...

Carter is almost 21 months, but we made this plate when he was 19 months (almost 20 months) and I just picked it up Wednesday on our way to the zoo with MiMi...Now we have one for both of the kids when they were 19 months... (here is M's) We were going to wait til Father's Day to give it to Mike, but we couldn't wait.... :)

My Rear-view (2 yrs ago)

Read this a few weeks ago and loved it...(click here for the full devo)

....I "thank God for this season of life. These children. The privilege of wiping noses and bottoms and countertops. A privilege many women would love to have, but don't. I remind myself that the days are long but the years are short. And one day I will look in the rear-view mirror and see empty seats."

Grass

Some grass quotes that have been on my mind and heart (as I look at our patchy lawn)...can't remember who said them, but I love them... :)

"You're not growing grass,
you're growing children."

"The grass is not always greener on the other side,
it's greener where it is watered."